A former Kingston man and NSPCC volunteer who lied about being abused by a VIP Westminster paedophile ring was convicted of perverting the course of justice and fraud Monday (July 22).

Carl Beech, who previously lived in Kingston, faces a lengthy jail sentence after being found guilty of a repeated and determined deceit that tarnished the reputations of those he accused and led the Met Police to raid the homes of a 91-year-old Normandy veteran Field Marshall Lord Bramall, plus the late Lord Brittan and former Tory MP Harvey Proctor.

Mr Proctor blasted the force, calling the episode "a truly disgraceful chapter in the history of British policing".

The police spent £2 million on an investigation into Mr Beech's accusations — dubbed 'Operation Midland' — which ended without a single arrest having been made.

Mr Beech told detectives his late stepfather, an Army major, raped him, then passed him on to generals to be tortured at military bases and sexually abused by other Establishment figures during the 1970s and 1980s.

The former Kingstonian named ex-prime minister Sir Edward Heath, disgraced TV star Jimmy Savile, Sir Michael Hanley, the head of MI5, and MI6 boss Sir Maurice Oldfield among his alleged abusers.

A senior detective wrongly called the allegations "credible and true" before the force had completed their inquiries.

A jury at Newcastle Crown Court rejected Mr Beech's unfounded allegations and on Monday convicted him of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud, relating to a £22,000 criminal injuries payout he falsely claimed for being raped by Savile.

The jurors were unconvinced by his claims that Army generals, at the height of the IRA terror threat, could sneak off unguarded to join horrific child abuse sessions.

They saw a videoed police interview with Lord Bramall where the war hero, now too ill to give evidence, thumped the table in front of him and denied having any sexual interest in children.

Another falsely accused general, 96-year-old Sir Hugh Beach, told the jury via video-link that the allegations against him were "beyond grotesque".

With what Tony Badenoch QC, prosecuting, described as "breathtaking hypocrisy", Mr Beech himself was a paedophile with an interest in pre-teen boys.

The school governor and NSPCC volunteer was due to be tried on indecent images and voyeurism charges last summer but went on the run to Sweden, where he bought two remote properties and tried to evade justice using false identities.

The jury deliberated for around four-and-a-half hours.